Using a participatory research design with SGM-led CBOs & RLOs, this report explores the experiences of displaced sexual & gender minorities in Kenya, based on 35 interviews in Nairobi, Mombasa, and Kakuma refugee camp. It highlights their drivers of movement from across East Africa, the challenges faced after arrival, and their aspirations for safer futures. 

Findings show that many displaced sexual & gender minorities left their countries as a survival strategy in response to socio-economic exclusion, communal violence and persecution, and hostile laws such as Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act. Although Kenya is seen as a refuge, respondents reported discrimination, arrests, and limited access to asylum, housing, and livelihoods. In light of these challenges, many aspire to move onward in search of dignified lives, rights, and opportunities.